Helpful Score: 2
Set in the early 1900's, the Bright family moves from a tobacco farm to Philadelphia where Mr Bright joins his never-married uncle's business of running a funeral home.
The family with 3 girls lives through the World War and Spanish flu epidemic, losing beloved family, friends, and classmates. They even take in a baby boy orphaned by the flu.
The girls all have special talents and we see them grow up to take on jobs and go thru courtships. These girls are liberated for their time!
Truly historical fiction, but there is enough romance to lighten the sadness that permeates much of the story.
Book is narrated by the women in the family with chapters alternating between characters, though this doesn't make it hard to follow. Book is written in 2 parts which seems to make a jump I didn't quite understand. The theme that drives part one is abandoned in part 2-- I'm sure we'll discuss that when my bookclub meets!
I enjoyed the descriptive writing Meissner used throughout the novel.
The family with 3 girls lives through the World War and Spanish flu epidemic, losing beloved family, friends, and classmates. They even take in a baby boy orphaned by the flu.
The girls all have special talents and we see them grow up to take on jobs and go thru courtships. These girls are liberated for their time!
Truly historical fiction, but there is enough romance to lighten the sadness that permeates much of the story.
Book is narrated by the women in the family with chapters alternating between characters, though this doesn't make it hard to follow. Book is written in 2 parts which seems to make a jump I didn't quite understand. The theme that drives part one is abandoned in part 2-- I'm sure we'll discuss that when my bookclub meets!
I enjoyed the descriptive writing Meissner used throughout the novel.
